Innocent Question
by April Dragon
Summary: Sometimes an an innocent childish question can make a boring day not so boring. Oneshot


-AN: Okay, this is my first fanfic. It's actually a sidestory to _another_ fanfic I want to write, which will explain why Al is a three, Ed's a general, Mustang's the Fuhrer, etc. The reason I wrote this first is because it WOULDN'T GET OUT OF MY HEAD! It's okay though, because I think it's cute. Some _constructive_ criticism, if any, would be greatly appreciated. Tell me what you think! 

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or any of its characters.  
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**Innocent Question**

It was a typical day in the cafeteria of Central Headquarters. Grumbling militants, lunch lines a mile long, food that wasn't exactly worth the mile-long wait, etc. The same boring story for every officer who worked here everyday. General Edward Elric was no exception.

Well . . . there was _one_ thing . . .

Edward managed his way to the empty end of the table he always sat at. Which wasn't easy, considering the rest of the room was crowded, he was holding his lunch tray in his left hand, and balancing two books under his automail arm. He concluded, though, that the difficult journey to his spot was equivalent exchange for even _having _a spot. The entire end of this table was rarely ever used by anybody else. But then again, everyone knew the Fullmetal Alchemist liked his space to be devoid of most people, save one person.

Once Ed made it to his lonely spot, the routine carried on in the order it did everyday. He set his tray down, lay his reading book beside his tray, took the tray from his companion and set it down to his right, and put the larger book in front in the seat in front of it. The same thing as every other day. But there was something, or rather some_one_, who always managed to keep Ed's day from becoming a bottomless pit of boringness that threatened to claim his very sanity.

Smiling, Edward knelt down and lifted his giggling three-year-old brother, Alphonse Elric, from the ground. Yes, Al always managed to keep Ed's day from becoming too dull. He always made things amusing, whether he was just innocently swinging his legs (most people who saw this thought it was the most _adorable_ thing in the world), or taking bits of his lunch and throwing them at the person who made Ed mad; Edward and Fuhrer Mustang had a firm talk with him later, Ed explaining that you can't keep throwing while the person is looking, Roy explaining that it wasn't polite to throw scraps at the leader of your own country.

After they were seated, Al sitting on the book so he could reach the table, Ed looked at his meal with a bland expression. His lunch consisted of a turkey sandwich, chicken soup, a glass of water, and a raisin cookie. Al had the same thing, except he had a glass of milk and a plain sugar cookie. Ed had eaten better, but he had certainly eaten _worse_, so he couldn't complain. As for Al, if it tasted good, he ate at a speed that even Ed had to admire.

Lunch went as usual, with Ed eating and reading at the same time. About halfway through, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Lowering the book, he saw Al picking a raisin off his cookie.

_What's he doing?_

"Alphonse," Al looked up at him with a guilty expression, "what are you doing?"

Al looked down at the raisin in his hand, then turned back to Ed.

"Do raisins grow on trees, brother?"

Edward gave him a completely dumbfounded expression before answering.

"Well, you see Al, raisins are actually dehydrated grapes, and grapes grow on vines, not trees."

"Oh . . . Brother?"

"Hm?"

"What does 'dehydrated' mean?"

"It means all the water's been sucked out of it."

"Oh . . ."

:PLUNK:

Edward, even more dumbfounded than before, watched as Al dropped the raisin in his glass of water.

"Alphonse! I was planning on _drinking_ that!"

Al lowered his head, on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry, brother."

Ed sighed. "I know you are, Al, but why did you do that?"

"I wanted to see the raisin turn back into a grape."

Ed ruffled Al's hair. "It's a little more complicated than that."

"Oh . . . Are you gonna drink your water?"

Ed looked at his new glass of raisin-water, scrunching his nose at it. Without warning, Al grabbed the glass and downed the whole thing, raisin and all. Ed stared, sputtering, trying to find a response to what he just witnessed. The only thing he managed to say was,

"What did it taste like?"

"Water with a raisin in it."

"Did you like it?"

" . . . You know I don't like raisins, brother."

From then on, nobody could understand why General Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, chuckles at the mention and sight of raisins.


End file.
